Award winning blog and global top write in Journalism on Medium shares his ideas

Monday, October 06, 2014

The University of You -Digital's impact on you

It’s no revelation we all want to be like someone. Caravaggio really wanted to be Leonardo Da Vinci. Popes wanted to be monarchs. Ronaldo would like to be Pele and Britain’s Prime minister fancies himself as Margaret Thatcher.

Young boys imprint on their fathers, daughters on their mothers — generally. And you, you want to be like the the person with the best twitter feed, or Linkedin ranking.

On the web, populist articles spout how to get the best social media feed, how to be the best instragramer, how to be this and how to that!

It’s not enough to be you anymore, you have to be her or him — with the nom de plume. Same face different mask.

I’m just as guilty. In my lectures I ask Masters students to look for the exemplar in the field and study their methods. But I add at some point break away; become you — again.

When I started as a broadcaster, I imprinted upon Sir Trevor Macdonald. Clear diction and enunciation and an inflexion that emphasised the power of speech.

I interviewed security chiefs e.g. ex-head of the CIA, created 'Obama's 100 Days' video with a live orchestra at the South Bank Centre, coded and built websites, and recently shot a film on training young Syrian journalists near the Turkey-Syria border -- not enough.

But if our idols where once our guides, today they manifest as nicotine craves. We would no sooner slay those we could admire, because frankly we see ourselves as better than them.

Deference has given way to a maniacal streak of impersonation. What ever happened to you? The English poet and painter William Blake said 'The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance—it is the illusion of knowledge.'

We simply cannot get enough, and the more we acquire, the more humble we should become. Often, we don't.

You with the imperfections, you who gradually and methodically got to where you did. You who knew you could do better, but had values.

On twitter we all want to be heard, we chirp noisily across the canopy. We’re incessant twitchers — looking at our feeds. Our attention spans wane after 5 mins. Video is 6 seconds, and news 140 characters.

The X-factor popularises public humiliation and a gladiatorial baying of blood. Intolerance, unBritishness, is now packaged as de rigueur --for the sake of TV ratings.

Strange constructs become a cultural norm. Where in the human evolution of speech did 140 characters define how to converse? There’s no power in diversity. To be different is to be isolated. I’m black, you’re white, it doesn’t matter — salute Michael Jackson. But it’s also what makes us different.

All these phenomenon are people-made. The Tories bash the poor; Labour sneers at the well-off. In a land of common sense, common sense has become a commodity; reflection, an anathema, foresight and wisdom — a daft concept.

But we can still recover lost ground. An empathy of understanding, a recognition that imperfection exists, if not welcomed, and that time is a friend, we should handle deftly.

Stop, look, listen. Be You! Become the university of you. Become the person in an era of opportunity to be that unique voice — YOU.

David next speaks at an International Business Summit in London. His PhD examines a future immersive emergent story form.

Channel 4's Jon Snow comments on David work as "original".

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David is a trend-setter who is always one step ahead of the game in terms of journalism, video and digital media. He is inspiring and an innovator and I am constantly in awe at what he achieves and ideas he comes up with. He’s also an excellent teacher and mentor. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next!

David has touched a creative level that deserves an Oscar. More importantly he is paving the way for future journalists and will radically change the way we see news. A truly inspirational and dynamic character.

I presented viewmagazine.tv at a recent company meeting at NBC Universal for executives in digital media. This high-level media crowd was in stunned and amazed at the creativity and intellectual complexity of this dynamic website. A winner!

David has been changing the game since long before I met him. His work is always on the bleeding edge, his storytelling and design sense is always fantastic. This guy could make a story about paying your taxes look great and catch your interest!

David and I have never met, but he has been a cyber mentor to me for the past 18 months and has been a wealth of “thinking outside the box” information on the solo video journalist paradigm that has helped me form what I do and why.

With urgency, style, and provocation, David delivers credible and well-presented news stories. His work is as serious as it is entertaining. He pulls us into his “experiments” and leaves us to judge the approach for ourselves. It’s hard not to be influenced by his energy and enthusiasm.

A life-changing tutor and mentor - who ABSOLUTELY changed the world of video for my group of new VJs. His work is as inspiring as his teaching methods, and constantly challenging the best way to achieve results. His website and blog and compelling, must-follow sites for anyone working with video or multimedia on the web.

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